I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on June 14, 2013 · 2 Comments

Local author Yvonne and her family decided to get more serious with their attempt at growing vegetables and keeping chickens.

Here is what she had to say:

Last year we dug up our front yard (my husband hates to mow the lawn so he was happy) and got good soil delivered. It was a very busy year because we also got 5 chickens!

We practice organic, pesticide free gardening. So far this year the potatoes (4 different varieties) are looking great in their potato growing bags. I tried to do the potato straw tower thing last year and was not successful. Maybe it was all that rain last Spring!

A bunch of carrots and peas are looking good. Lettuce has just been harvested and now I am waiting for the cucumber plants and tomatoes to grow taller so I can grow more lettuce in their shade. I thought it would be cool to grow strawberries in cinderblocks around one of my veggie patches. So far so good! The tomato plants are still really small but some have flowers already.

This year I am trying to grow corn. Right now I have 1 inch seedlings. Typically corn is hard to grow here but I have nothing to loose and it would be so cool, if it worked out! The artichoke plants from last year (grown from seed) finally have a good production of nice artichokes going. I have to fight my girls for them!

Pretty much everything in the front yard is edible. I do grow a lot of wild flowers for the bees and last year I also build a willow structure that is being enjoyed by many little birds and my girls like sit under the willows in the shade.

My biggest challenge so far is to successfully grow any kind of brassica, beets and believe it or not radishes!! None of these plants ever bulk up or give me a cauliflower or a broccoli head. Very frustrating! Possibly it is too hot in the front yard..?

We have our chickens in the backyard. We started with 5 but have 2 chicks waiting to join the big ladies so soon we’ll have 7 laying chickens.
Someone said, chickens are the gateway to adding more and more birds of any kind to your garden or even bigger life stock, such as goats. Well, so far I have caved and surprised my husband with 2 ducks! They are 10 weeks old and should start laying in 4 to 6 weeks. Ducks grow incredibly fast, need much less care than chickens, are funny as can be and are super, super stinky ; )

My chickens like to hang out in the compost bin. They are SUCH good workers! I hardly ever have to turn my compost. The coop is a little small, next year we’ll have to upgrade but their run is big all though for the most part they free range in the backyard. The eggs have huge, deep orange yolks!

Currently we are collecting palettes which my husband will work into a big fence for a new fenced area (and chicken free) in the backyard. Next year we will start planting veggies there as well as in the front yard. The backyard gets more shade and I am hoping to be able to start growing a bigger variety of vegetables and fruit.

In addition to taking care of garden and animals, I needle felt and since I am a Illustrator by profession I also paint.

Needle felting is when you take wool roving and stab the roving with very sharp, barbed needles over and over. The barbs knot the fibers together and your can sculpt the wool. It is so addictive! {Check out Yvonne’s Etsy Shop} My hobby got a bit expensive and I am now selling my animals and things on etsy to support my addiction and to be able to buy soil and seeds : )

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.

Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.

Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.

Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.

Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.